'Cause you know that you gotta,
Get out of the middle,
And rise to the top now.'
The underground gym was slowly rising in temperature, beads of sweat streaking down Rachel's face and her arms causing goose bumps to arise. The sound of metal bars clashing together was the only sound throughout the gym mixed in with the heavy breathing. "So when's the move?" Cassandra asked as they manoeuvred around each other, blocking each other's attempts.
Rachel took a step back, tugging her metal bar so it had broken into two pieces. "Don't want to talk about it," she said as Cassandra mimicked her actions and rushed forward.
Cassandra grinned as they danced around each other, the adrenaline from the possibility of being struck pumping through their veins. "I know," she said "but it might be good for you."
Rachel grabbed Cassandra's arm and brought one of her metal bars up too, effectively disabling Cassandra. "There are too many bad memories there," Rachel said.
"I think you should go," Cassandra said.
Rachel let go of her trainers arm and backed away in surprise "You only want me to go because that means you can find a student who is incapable of putting you on your arse." She said.
Cassandra dropped her metal bars on the floor by her feet "Jen thinks it'll be therapeutic for you to go back to Lima."
Rachel suddenly felt cold now she wasn't moving around. "I know Jen has good intentions but it's like why do I have to leave somewhere that I like?" she asked through a sigh "I have ghosts in Lima but here I'm not forced to relive it every single day."
"As your friend I would suggest talking to Jen," Cassandra said as she passed Rachel her water bottle "but as your sort-of-aunt all I can really say is suck it up kiddo, when you're legally an adult you can do what you want but while Jen is still your legal guardian, you've got no choice in the matter. Who knows, you might even make some new friends." She added.
Puck folded his arms under his head and closed his eyes "One day," he said into the silence "when we've got the resources, we'll bring Lima down to its knees."
Sebastian knocked his leg gently with his own "Why stop at Lima?" he asked "we could have it all."
Puck lifted his lips up into a smile at the images his mind was conjuring up, seeing all the money they'd steal piled into numerous duffel bags and all the priceless artefacts carefully packed up to sell on the markets that are known only to a select few where payday could include walking away with several thousand dollars in one go. His father may not have had the guts to follow through with his plan properly but Puck will. "We'll be swimming in money," he said dreamily.
He heard and felt the movement at the foot of the bed before Sebastian settled once more. "We'll be famous," Sebastian murmured "everyone will know about us and no one will be able to catch us because we'll be long gone before they can even figure out who's taken the money."
Puck chuckled lightly "We've got brains and brawn," he said "of course we'll be untouchable."
Sebastian laughed "I don't think our peers daydream about their future careers in robbing," he said "tell me, do the football team plan meticulous heists while in the changing rooms?" he asked amused.
"Those bunch of idiots wouldn't know where to begin," Puck scoffed.
Rachel rested her head against the window as she watched as endless tree's passed them by and a nice warm breeze filled the car. The radio was on a low level playing some pop song, Rachel wasn't interested in it. "It should be criminal to have left so early," Rachel yawned albeit it was ten in the morning but they had been on the road since seven and were due to reach their new home just after eleven.
"I know you are allergic to the early hours unless you're going for a run," Jen said sounding amused "but this way we can get the essentials unpacked, set up and even get some grocery shopping done for this evening." She added sounding far too excited about all of this.
Rachel glanced at Jen briefly "Is Cass going to stay tonight?" she asked, she was going to miss her trainer slash sort-of-aunt.
"Yeah," Jen answered "I know you're going to miss her and so will I but we can always take weekend trips back to Williamsport to see her or she can come down to us whenever. If after you graduate and you still hate it in Lima, before you go to college we'll move back to Williamsport." She added.
Jen was a nice woman, where Cassandra was light haired her sister was dark haired and slightly shorter. Jen was well travelled and well educated and often tried to 'be down with the kids'. Rachel liked her though and always thanked her lucky stars for Jen's decision to adopt her. "I think I can live with that," Rachel said even though it pained her at the prospect of living in Lima for a good two years.
Lima held ghosts for her; to be precise it held two ghosts, her fathers. Rachel had been around nine or ten when something where Hiram had worked in a finance firm had been plastered all over the news, at the time she had been too young to understand what was going on and why police officers had come knocking at the door. She could still vividly see Hiram being taken away in handcuffs when news soon followed of his suicide in prison was delivered to LeRoy. Rachel just remembered being sad and feeling alone. LeRoy had barely functioned for weeks before Rachel had been pulled into the principal's office in the middle of a school day with a solemn looking principal and two police officers standing by as the news of her only remaining dad's suicide was broken to her.
Even to this day thinking back sent shivers down her spine and made her eyes itch with demanding tears.
"That's all I'm asking for Rachel," Jen said softly "and to make the transition a bit more bearable, I've located a gym that is a ten minute walk from our new house. Cass suggested that having a gym close could bring an air of familiarity."
Rachel looked in their rear view mirror where she could see Cassandra following them in the rented moving van. "Well she is pretty insightful," she commented.
The idea of returning to where her happy childhood was tainted had her stomach twisting in nauseating ways.
It wasn't the first time Will Schuester had found himself sat in his Spanish classroom during the lunch break with his late girlfriend's letter in hand, reading the words once more. He could recite it by heart after all of these years but it didn't lessen the pain in his stomach and the ache in his chest.
The words 'Nothing is as it seems' still make his head hurt and 'Russel Fabray isn't what he seems, not everything you read is true' still makes his pulse quicken. Will had done his research thoroughly, he knew the people pinned for the financial scandal that had dominated headlines for months had either ended up 'committing suicide' or someone had made it to them in prison. Emma had been one of the few that had been found guilty and had chosen to take her own life after leaving a suicide note.
The words on that note didn't sound like Emma at all but the one Will had found days later in his bedside table had set his mind racing. He still remembered his future shattering right before his eyes.
Much of his research had led him to believe foul play was involved leading him to keep an eye on those affected by the events that unfolded, more specifically the children. Puck and Sebastian were deemed troublemakers, Rachel had suffered the worst with losing both parental figures and moving to an entirely different state, Artie kept his head down and Will kept a careful eye trained on a certain Quinn Fabray.
Quick footsteps rushing by his classroom had Will jumping in his seat slightly, he always felt paranoid whenever he had the letter out in the open like this. He'd laid awake in bed one too many times planning and plotting ways for finding the evidence that implicated Russel. There was no telling how deep the scandal ran and who were involved, which made it all that more risky.
Quinn crossed her legs and tried to pay attention to Mr Schue in her last class of the day. He seemed to be in a bad mood judging by the scowl plastered on his face, though thinking about it Quinn doesn't think she's ever witnessed the man in a particularly happy mood. "Class," Mr Schue announced from the front of the room "since some students find it particularly difficult to grasp the simple words of the Spanish language it looks like this lesson is a back to basics session." He announced, a brief pointed look directed at Quinn.
From the corner of her eye she could see Santana throw her a raised eyebrow followed by a quick smirk at the public display of shaming their teacher had thrown her way. Quinn wanted to sink down in her seat and disappear and a teacher had never made her feel that way before.
"Quinn," Mr Schue said capturing her attention "please reiterate a simple introduction in Spanish please."
Quinn sat up straighter in her seat and plastered on her best look of indifference as she said clearly and loudly "Hola mi nombre es Quinn Fabray,"
Mr Schue nodded his head as he moved on to a different student "Puck, count from one to ten." He instructed.
"One, two, three, four, five, six…" Puck said with a grin "seven, eight, nine and ten."
Mr Schue looked faintly amused at the antics of the class clown, he shook his head. "I apologise my instruction couldn't possibly have been too clear. Puck, count from one to ten in Spanish please." He said as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Ohh, well all you had to do was just say so Mr Schue. Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete," Puck said "ocho, nueve, diez."
Quinn sat back in her chair slightly and feigned interest, she had no interest in lowering herself to Mr Schue's bad mood induced lesson.
It had been a long day mixed in with many conflicting emotions so Rachel had taken Cassandra up on her offer of running around the block in the evening to burn off the remaining ounce of energy she had left. She had her first day of school tomorrow at William McKinley High School; she'd googled it prior to moving and hadn't been entirely sold on the school.
After showering and slipping into her pyjamas, Rachel had settled into bed. Phone on to charge while her mind was blank from tiredness. Cassandra had wished her a goodnight and good luck for tomorrow since she was leaving during the early hours to be back home before lunch time tomorrow. Jen had given Rachel a hug before she'd retired to bed which had provided some comfort.
She just couldn't get this odd feeling out of her stomach that something big was coming, something that would change everything. Both Jen and Cassandra had assured her it was probably down to the move and the changing of schools but Rachel remained unconvinced.
There's something different in the air as Quinn walked down the hallway on Wednesday morning, students were preoccupied and they definitely were not preoccupied about Quinn, no… it was odd. She tried to shrug it off and blame it on her lack of sleep the night before but as she turned a corner and headed toward her locker, a girl caught her sight. She was short, medium length brunette hair and looked to be quite… alternative.
"Can I help you?" Quinn asked as she approached.
The girl looked up at her with a raised eyebrow and a suspicious look in her eyes "No," she replied simply before opening the locker and proceeding to place a couple items in there.
"I'm Quinn," she said introducing herself "Quinn Fabray. I'm sure you've heard of me."
The girl closed her locker "I've been here all of fifteen minutes," she said "I don't care who you are and I don't care how highly you think of yourself-"
"I-" Quinn opened her mouth in defence only to be cut off.
"-I can see clearly see you wearing a cheerleaders uniform and if you're going to cause trouble then I won't think twice about taking you down a peg or two." The girl finished.
Quinn frowned "You can't talk to me like that," she said, other students around them appeared to be trying to act like they weren't watching what was happening.
"Why not?" The girl asked "you apparently felt the need to try and assert some superiority over me because…"
"I'm head cheerleader and I can make your life a living hell," Quinn said as she placed her hands on her hips, she liked this girl. No one stood up to her and this was proving to be quite exhilarating for her.
The girl scoffed "Yeah," she said "cause that's going to help you when you leave high school. Unfortunately for you, you'll have a pretty harsh wakeup call when you realise you can't threaten everyone, including the new girl." She finished before walking down the hallway without so much as glance back at Quinn.
Quinn could only stare after the girl who only wore dark colours as she disappeared down the hallway seeming to be offended. She had a mix of feelings bubbling up inside her and weirdly enough she wasn't seething with anger about the obvious challenge she had presented Quinn with. An arm looped through hers.
"Alright Q?" Santana asked as they walked down the hallway "you look like you've seen a ghost."
Quinn shook her head and smiled "I'm fine," she said "let's get to home room."
Home room in which she shared with Brittany and Santana and their teacher being Mr Schue who seemed to definitely not like Quinn for a reason she couldn't quite figure out. Upon walking into the room, Quinn noticed the new girl she'd had a run in with sat in the middle row to the far side of the room looking disinterested. Quinn wouldn't admit it out loud but the girl was pretty attractive and that had nothing to do with Quinn's obvious like of nose rings and lip piercings both of which the girl sported. Santana whistled under her breath "Who's the new girl?" she asked appreciatively.
Quinn shrugged her shoulders and took her usual seat in the middle row in the middle of the class as Mr Schue walked into the room, a quick questioning glance thrown toward the new girl before he sat down at his desk and logged onto the computer in which all of them will be registered on. Mr Schue took a pull from his travel cup before he started listing off names from the computer. Quinn was half paying attention until a name caught her attention. "Rachel…" Mr Schue trailed off with an odd look on his face as he looked at the girl in wonder before he cleared his throat and said "Rachel Berry,"
"Here," Rachel said with look of confusion shot at Mr Schue.
Santana placed a hand on Quinn's arm with a look of faint shock on her face "Don't you remember her?" she asked "you used to call her man hands and fat when we were like nine years old… damn she's changed a lot."
Quinn nodded her head as faint memories resurfaced "Oh yeah," she said "I remember." However the one thing that was stuck in her mind was the last name 'Berry'. Quinn had read numerous news articles regarding her father's financial firm's scandal a year or so back where she had come across the article about a man called Hiram Berry having committed suicide due to his part of the scandal.
Sebastian is angry, no scratch that, he's outraged with the audacity of Mr Schue. He and Puck hadn't even been that disruptive yet he had issued a lunch break detention. Puck wasn't happy either but Mr Schue had promised many more detentions were in order if they didn't show up. So Sebastian figured he could sacrifice an hour of his life for the greater good.
Artie liked to think of himself as a good, no trouble making and hardworking student. He had no grievances with any of his teachers. He's coming out of the toilets when he catches Mr Schue's foot with the wheel of his wheelchair causing the man to yelp slightly and drop his coffee all down himself. The next thing he knew, Mr Schue was issuing him with a lunch break detention and storming off down the hall. Artie looked down at the slip in his hand and sighed.
Rachel isn't entirely too sure what's she done to deserve the slip in her hand but the weird teacher from her home room was going on about missing a good portion of his Spanish work and having to catch her up which naturally happens to be during a lunch break detention. This school was already insane and Rachel still hadn't found any redeeming qualities about it.
She's on her way to her next class when the cheerleader from this morning (Quinn?) is approaching her. Rachel wanted to turn and find a different route because the last thing she wants is a preppy cheerleader trying to make conversation with her.
"Rachel," the blonde said "hey, about this morning I just wanted to say that I wasn't trying to insert my superiority over you. I was, I just, that's not how I wanted it to come across." She finished after seeming to find it difficult to find the right words to end the sentence. Rachel found that oddly adorable.
Rachel shrugged lightly "I suppose I should apologise too," she said "I didn't mean to come across as snappy. I only moved yesterday and it's my first day today so I'm tired and didn't entirely mean what I said."
Quinn smiled "I understand," she said "we're going to be locker neighbours so I thought we should at least be friendly."
Just then a tall boy in a football jacket leaned against the doorway beside them with a grin "Well hello," he said "I don't believe we've had the pleasure of introductions yet."
Quinn looked visibly annoyed as she rolled her eyes "Go bother someone else Puck," she said.
Rachel looked at him "Puck?" she asked "you go by Puck huh."
Puck crossed his arms over his chest, smirk growing on his lips. "How about this," he said "after my lunch detention with Schuester, we get out of here."
Rachel raised her eye brows as she pulled a slip from her back packet and showed it to him "Snap," she said "I'll see you there."
Rachel could see Quinn's sour look from the corner of her eye as Puck said "I'll see you there then," and then he headed off down the hallway slowly melting into the sea of students.
She turned to the cheerleader and nodded her head "Well it was nice to clear the air with you, Quinn." She said.
"You're not really interested in him are you?" Quinn asked.
Rachel bit her lip as she pondered Quinn's interest. "Nah," she said as she stepped into Quinn's personal space slightly as she added "he's not my type." And then she turned and followed Puck's lead of melting into the sea of students making their way to their classes.
Will hadn't entirely thought this through but his mind had him handing out detentions without him thinking about the consequences. The reasons were flimsy but they would stick, this must be what abuse of power felt like. From his seat at his desk he could see the unhappy looks on Puck's and Sebastian's faces, the guilty look on Artie's and the confused look on Rachel's. He tapped his pen on the desk a couple of times.
"Hiram and LeRoy Berry, Jake and Abigail Abrams, Christopher Puckerman, Samuel Smythe and Emma Pillsbury." He said as he stood up and looked at each of them as he said their passed loved ones names "Those names hold a meaning to us, we each lost someone to the same thing."
Sebastian stood up from his seat looking outraged "What right does that give you to bring this up now?" he asked.
"I'm bringing this up now because you're all old enough to understand the real reason-" He started to say.
"-The real reason is they were all too gutless to face what they had done and took the easy way out," Puck said angry.
Will watched as Rachel stood up an outraged expression focused on Puck "You watch your mouth," she said "my dads were not gutless. Your dad maybe was but that doesn't go for all of them." She shot back.
"Enough," Will said bringing his hand down on his desk loudly "sit down and listen. There's a reason you're all here. Emma was my girlfriend-"
"-Oh boohoo," Sebastian interrupted.
Will ignored the interruption "Her death was ruled as a suicide yet she had shown no signs leading up to it, after the scandal broke… she swore blind she'd had no part of it. Days after… after she'd… I found this letter from her. I have the letter on me if any of you wish to read it but the main point she made was innocent people had been chosen to take the fall and when they didn't cooperate well… you've all suffered the consequences." He said.
Artie was the first to speak "My parents always said my aunt and uncle were incapable of doing something so corrupt," he said "can you read the letter to us?" he asked softly.
The room was silent but the atmosphere was quite tense as Will opened his desk drawer to get the letter out.
Rachel felt like she was going to vomit or pass out or both.
"So… my dad really didn't?" Puck asked sounding as sick as Rachel felt.
Mr Schue shook his head "None of them did," he said "I've been sat on this ever since I found it."
"So why didn't you take it to the police!?" Rachel demanded angrily "you could've single handily cleared our relatives names!"
Mr Schue ran a hand through his hair "Don't you think I would have if I felt like it would have helped in any way?" he asked sounding broken "there was paper evidence damning everyone targeted, forged signatures, fake time stamps, files and bank accounts… the people covering themselves were so good and thorough I doubted what Emma had written for a little while until I started my research into the case. It seemed that anyone involved with these people that had knowledge of what was going on were either being imprisoned for helping or mysteriously committing suicide. What was I supposed to do!?" he asked.
Rachel frustratingly could see where he was coming from, if he had openly gone to the police then who knows what would have happened to him. "Russel Fabray huh," she said.
"Russel fucking Fabray," the boy behind Puck muttered with a dark look on his face.
"What do we do now?" The boy in the wheelchair asked "now we know what we know, what do we do…"
Rachel nodded her head slowly in agreement, the boy had a point. What do they do now?
"Help me," Their teacher suggested "help me prove their innocence and take down the real people responsible for this."
"That's insane," Puck said as he leaned back in his chair.
"We're a bunch of high school kids, what can we do?" Rachel asked agreeing with Puck's statement.
The boy behind Puck was nodding his head to himself "It could work," he said "Artie's good with computers and stuff, Puck can hold his own in a fight, my skills and abilities are exceptional… outside of the law so to speak and you…" he said as he gestured in her direction "what can you do?" he asked slowly.
Rachel smirked "I can take you down in one hit," she said.
"I'm going to pretend I didn't just hear all of that…" Schuester said.
Rachel raised her eyebrows at him "Why?" she asked "in order to do any of this then we're going to have to use means outside of the law. We can't go into the firm directly and be like 'hello, please give us any files relating to that scandal that can prove our relatives innocence please and thank you'. I think that wouldn't go down too well." She said.
"She has a point," Artie said.
"If we do this," Schuester said "we plan it out carefully, we don't do anything drastic and you don't draw too much attention to yourselves."
Puck grinned and nodded his head "We're gonna be spies!" he announced as he offered a high five in which Rachel returned.
Rachel sat back in her seat and brought her legs to rest on the table, crossing her ankles. Schuester sent a disapproving look her way. "Let's get started," he said.
A/N:
Hello lovely readers!
So firstly I do not own Glee or any of it's characters. I've been so consumed with wanting to write a Faberry fic that I've had a million and one idea's until I got inspiration from DC Legends of Tomorrow's show (if you haven't you should watch it!) So expect some ass kicking, Faberry, singing and Puck and Rachel bromance!